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- Permaculture Design
- What is Permaculture?
- Diploma>
- Output 1 Making room for new beginnings; creating conscious space for good design>
- Output 2 Beginning the Design Process; Observing and interacting>
- Output 3 Stacking functions>
- Our current living space; Alex`s house and garden>
- Pete`s house; Turning a monster into an ally!
- Integrating permaculture design into my work place>
- Forest gardening at Margam Park...
- Raising Seth - supporting my son`s journey>
- Extracts from learning journal
- Process reflection
- Appendix
- Appendix ll. Tutor & Peer review
- Output 4 Small and slow solutions>
- Our current living space; Alex`s house and garden>
- Pete`s house; turning a monster into an ally!
- Integrating Permaculture design into my work place
- Forest gardening at Margam Park
- Raising Seth; Supporting our son`s journey.
- Getting to grips with technology!
- Extracts from learning Journal
- Process reflection
- Output 5, Accept and respond to feedback>
- Output 6
- Output 7
- Output 8
- Output 9
- Output 10
- Completed Designs>
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Synopsis
Being a parent is new for me. I spent my life (until relatively recently) not intending to produce children due to the unsustainable way in which the human species lives. Now seeing the potential to change things positively, I have a beautiful six and a half month old son.
My partner and I wish to raise him in a manner that presents him with choices. We would like him to develop as an individual with a deep rooted and intrinsic understanding of and connection with nature, to respect all life forms and to be able to play as a young human should be able to; that is naturally with scope for experimentation and exploration.
Being a parent is new for me. I spent my life (until relatively recently) not intending to produce children due to the unsustainable way in which the human species lives. Now seeing the potential to change things positively, I have a beautiful six and a half month old son.
My partner and I wish to raise him in a manner that presents him with choices. We would like him to develop as an individual with a deep rooted and intrinsic understanding of and connection with nature, to respect all life forms and to be able to play as a young human should be able to; that is naturally with scope for experimentation and exploration.
Goals articulation
Why the double bib? Lots of dribble due to teething!
To provide our son with;
Love
Good food
Opportunities for play amongst natural and stimulating surroundings
Opportunities to experience and develop an understanding and respect for ecosystems and animals
A developing awareness of where food comes from
Plentiful opportunities for interaction with community - people of all ages
Access to a gentle and playful education that does not push him harder than his natural rate of growth and development
Later in life, we would like him to receive an education that is broad and inclusive, one that broadens his knowledge of subjects rather than just teaching him to pass an exam, including practical skills that will empower him with the ability to take charge of his own life
Love
Good food
Opportunities for play amongst natural and stimulating surroundings
Opportunities to experience and develop an understanding and respect for ecosystems and animals
A developing awareness of where food comes from
Plentiful opportunities for interaction with community - people of all ages
Access to a gentle and playful education that does not push him harder than his natural rate of growth and development
Later in life, we would like him to receive an education that is broad and inclusive, one that broadens his knowledge of subjects rather than just teaching him to pass an exam, including practical skills that will empower him with the ability to take charge of his own life
Survey
Assess
Assess
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Design
Implement
Food
Alex and I are supporting Seth`s development with self feeding, or "baby led weaning."
Here`s a basic introduction to it all;
"Baby-led weaning is, it must be said, a somewhat cheesy term for just letting your infant self-feed. You cut food up into manageable sticks and offer it, they eat. It’s really pretty simple.
The key difference between BLW and traditional weaning, when you think about it, is in the order that children learn to eat. With a puree, they learn to swallow first and then chew, which works fine until they meet a lump. With BLW, the babies learn to chew first and swallowing might come some time later.
It’s ‘baby-led’ in the sense that you let them do what they need to do while they’re learning, and as the parent you resist the urge to get wound up in knots about how much they’re eating, whether they like the food you thought they’d like and whether it’s smushed into the nearest curtain. The main thing is… it’s all good clean (messy) fun." - www.babyledweaning.com
Throwing your hands up in horror? Worried about choking etc? More information in the project appendix here.
Alex discovered this common sense approach to weaning, and I am now also embracing it. It makes absolute sense for a child to learn how to chew before it learns how to swallow! It certainly doesn`t make sense the other way around which is the conventional methodology that we are all conditioned towards utilising. It has been fascinating watching Seth deal with a variety of foods. His gag reflex serves him well if seated upright, and he has needed no encouragement to feed himself. At six and a half months old, and being a big strong boy, he is more than ready for self feeding. he has been watching us eating intently for some time now, and enjoys clearing up a tray of interesting edibles. His hand/eye co-ordination has evolved dramatically in a matter of days.
Here is a short video of Seth self feeding. He had encountered carrots before this video, but other than being spoon fed previously, this video was the first time that he had encountered brocolli for himself. It is interesting to note how he quickly put the carrot down and wanted to explore the new food item. He doesn`t gag once either. Watch it for yourself...
Food
Alex and I are supporting Seth`s development with self feeding, or "baby led weaning."
Here`s a basic introduction to it all;
"Baby-led weaning is, it must be said, a somewhat cheesy term for just letting your infant self-feed. You cut food up into manageable sticks and offer it, they eat. It’s really pretty simple.
The key difference between BLW and traditional weaning, when you think about it, is in the order that children learn to eat. With a puree, they learn to swallow first and then chew, which works fine until they meet a lump. With BLW, the babies learn to chew first and swallowing might come some time later.
It’s ‘baby-led’ in the sense that you let them do what they need to do while they’re learning, and as the parent you resist the urge to get wound up in knots about how much they’re eating, whether they like the food you thought they’d like and whether it’s smushed into the nearest curtain. The main thing is… it’s all good clean (messy) fun." - www.babyledweaning.com
Throwing your hands up in horror? Worried about choking etc? More information in the project appendix here.
Alex discovered this common sense approach to weaning, and I am now also embracing it. It makes absolute sense for a child to learn how to chew before it learns how to swallow! It certainly doesn`t make sense the other way around which is the conventional methodology that we are all conditioned towards utilising. It has been fascinating watching Seth deal with a variety of foods. His gag reflex serves him well if seated upright, and he has needed no encouragement to feed himself. At six and a half months old, and being a big strong boy, he is more than ready for self feeding. he has been watching us eating intently for some time now, and enjoys clearing up a tray of interesting edibles. His hand/eye co-ordination has evolved dramatically in a matter of days.
Here is a short video of Seth self feeding. He had encountered carrots before this video, but other than being spoon fed previously, this video was the first time that he had encountered brocolli for himself. It is interesting to note how he quickly put the carrot down and wanted to explore the new food item. He doesn`t gag once either. Watch it for yourself...
Follow Seth`s progress during his introduction to baby led weaning here.
People
We are doing our best to ensure that Seth is well socialised, and that he mixes with other children. Here he is interacting with one of his cousins.
We are setting out to ensure that he experiences the wider family and community.
We believe that it is good for a child`s development to connect with his ancestry, and experience a diversity of people and ages. Here he bonds further with his grandfather.
Interaction and socialisation with adults and other children is essential for Seth`s development. Here he has a drum lesson from our good friend Boyd at 6 months!
If you want some drumming tuition yourself, contact Boyd here.